The following section includes additional details on the dynamics of Facebook Edgerank.
Facebook Edgerank: An Insight
Facebook Algorithm is an algorithm that accumulates all the Edges. In this respect, an edge refers to absolutely all the activities performed on Facebook. For example, likes, comments, shares, and all other actions on Facebook are referred to as Edges.
Following this simple explanation on Edges, it is important to understand what these Edges comprise of. As per Facebook Edgerank principles, an Edge comprises of:
- Affinity
- Time Decay
- Weight
Affinity Explained
Affinity, as the name suggests, refers to the connection between Facebook users and an Edge. In a business setting, it describes the one-way relationship between a fan and their preferred business page. This means that companies engaged in social media marketing aim to boost their Affinity with the target audience. To achieve this, users or fans need to engage in online activities on the Facebook business page, such as liking, commenting, messaging, clicking, and more.
Time Decay Explained
This term relates to the temporary nature of Facebook Edgerank. In simple terms, Time Decay is a concept that looks at how the value of an Edge decreases over time. It goes without saying that recent actions are more valuable than those that happened a long time ago.
Weight Explained
In terms of the Facebook Edgerank, the Weight of each online action on the network varies from one another. To put it another way, activity Weight is based on its value while valuable online activity is based on its high level of user involvement. This means that posting comments demands high involvement than that for clicking on like.
On the basis of these concepts and measures, Facebook Edgerank establishes the order of appearance and visibility of posts on the News Feed. The objective behind this algorithm is to enhance user experience by filtering business posts to make them appear on or disappear from user News Feed.
The Impact of Facebook Edgerank on Business Pages
Its a straightforward principle. Facebook Edgerank simply affects the visibility of a brand’s online activity on the News Feed of its target audience. This means that a Facebook business page that has a low edge rank in terms of affinity, time, or weight will have a low possibility of appearing on the News Feeds of its fans. As one would expect, low ranking and points through Facebook Edgerank greatly reduce the chances for a business page to benefit from its online presence and social media marketing efforts.
Although a different issue altogether, Facebook Edgerank is also accused of being an unfavorable algorithm of business pages that are involved in unpaid social media marketing activities on the network. But on the basis of its objective, Facebook Edgerank aims at minimizing spam and increasing the relevance of updates on each user’s stream in terms of the points assigned to its three variables.
Considering these details, it would not be wrong to conclude that Facebook Edgerank results in varying challenges for business pages, mostly small businesses with the goal of making money online. Basically, business pages are required to focus on two main areas for improving their user News Feed rank and visibility. The first one is to outperform the ranking that their direct competitors have on the stream of their target audience. On the other hand, business pages also have to engage their audience and fans to increase their interaction with the various Edges.
Beat It: Effective Tips to Escape from the Facebook Edgerank Grip
Irrespective of the purpose behind Facebook Edgerank, its impact on business pages is that of a lower and restricted outreach to their fans. In most cases, businesses resort to increased investment in online advertising on Facebook. However, this is not a long-lasting solution. In fact, business pages should attempt to beat Facebook Edgerank by magnifying the degree of involvement and engagement with their fans. A few effective ways to overcome the challenges introduced by Facebook Edgerank are listed below that can enable businesses to beat the algorithm and increase their visibility.
Go Viral with Few or No Links
One way to share valuable content is through sharing the link of some great content sources. However, this action on Facebook does not get enough points for a business page to increase its ranking on the user News Feed. Let’s take a look at it from the user’s point of view. A person would find it easier to engage with a brand on its page by liking or commenting on a timeline photo as opposed to clicking on a link that directs him or her to another website. This means that business pages should reduce their activity of sharing external links to good content. This is an action that will promote higher points on Facebook Edgerank.
Attract Comments More Than Likes
The Like feature of Facebook makes it easy for users to express their fondness of any action or content with just a single click. The number of likes that any item gets represents the quality or importance of the content shared on a business page. As a result, high number of likes also encourages users to share the piece of content on their wall. However, social media marketing on Facebook should not be confined to receiving a great number of likes from the target audience. In fact, there should be steady focus on engaging the fans enough to encourage them to leave comments. As a result, high number of comments is synonymous to creating viral content.